City Charter

Introduction

Tennessee municipalities are established and operate under grants of power from the state General Assembly through two kinds of laws: private acts and general laws. Private acts apply only to a specific town or city, while general laws apply either to all non-private act cities and towns or, often, to non-private act cities and towns within a certain population size classification. Amendments to the Tennessee Constitution after 1953, however, prohibited the subsequent incorporation of cities by private act. Municipalities established by general law are incorporated under one of five standardized general law charter forms. The city of Piperton, established in 1974, operates under the Uniform City Manager-Commission general law charter. The state General Assembly amends provisions of the five standardized general law charter forms from time to time. The attached Uniform City Manager-Commission general law charter, applicable to the city of Piperton, reflects amendments through the 2016 General Assembly session and is provided for your information.